UB is joining forces with other Western New York health care and medical research leaders to develop blood tests that uncover hidden information in the cells of those exposed to coronavirus to determine which patients will develop severe symptoms.

Called the Western New York Immunogenomic COVID-19 Study, the new initiative unites three leading regional health care organizations — UB through the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Catholic Health — in a project with the potential to advance understanding of COVID-19 and benefit patients worldwide.

The research is supported by a $150,000 gift from 11 Day Power Play Inc., a nonprofit that raises funds for pressing medical research.